This invention relates to the field of collars for small domestic animals and bottle openers and the combination thereof.
Domesticated small animals, such as dogs, often wear collars. Collars serve as both a functional and aesthetic purpose for the owners of the pets. A collar provides a means for connecting a leash to the animal. Often the collar will include a D-ring to facilitate the selective coupling of a leash to the collar. The D-ring also serves as a hanging device for attaching an identification tag.
Far-removed from the art of animal collars, bottle openers were developed to open a variety of bottles, including those with caps that are crimped to seal in the contents, whether it be beer, soda, or other liquids. Openers are available in many different designs, including hand held, wall mounted, vending machine mounted, as well as other styles.
The incorporation of a bottle opener into a device than can be worn on a person is known. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,185,772 and 4,135,267 describe belt-buckle bottle openers. One attempt to combine a dog collar with a bottle opener is a collar sold under the brand name of Wander Collar by Kurgo available at www.kurgo.com. However, these known devices have several shortcomings: Specifically, the combination belt and bottle opener are generally difficult to use because the bottle-prying feature aligns perpendicular to the long-axis of the belt. Thus, when attempting to open a bottle while worn, the opener causes the belt to twist and this twisting makes opening the bottle difficult or impossible. Further, this twisting is uncomfortable to the wearer. In other devices, the entire belt must be removed for the belt-buckle opener to function as a opener—this is often impractical so such devices are worn as a gag or statement, and fail to work as a utilitarian bottle opener and belt. The Kurgo Wander Collar has many shortcomings in addition to the similar shortcomings just discussed relative to belt-bottle openers: For example, the Wander collar has many sharp crags and edges that can catch on articles and can readily cause injury to the dog or person handling the dog and because of the alignment of the pry-hook, it too is difficult to use as an opener when worn as a collar as there is insufficient space to grip the opener when worn on the dog's neck and there is no resistance provided by the collar due to the orientation of the opener relative to the collar.
Yet another problem not contemplated in the art of dog collars and generally overlooked in human apparel is the amount of human-generate scrap material that ends up in land fills and is otherwise wasted and adds to the global green-house gas production and increases humankind's carbon footprint. Therefore, there is a need to re-use and/or reclaim any portion of this scrap to reduce the environmental impact new products, including dog collars, cause. One overlooked solution is to re-use discarded rubber products, such as bicycle inner tubes, which are particularly difficult to dispose as they do not quickly degrade or deteriorate, and due to the high petroleum content, pose a serious risk of fire, smoke and air pollution if left in scrap piles. Further, butyl rubber cannot be recycled with other plastics or household waste. The relative low cost of virgin-raw material makes traditional recycling cost prohibitive.
Yet another problem with existing dog collars, which are typically constructed of either leather or nylon, is the time required for the collars to dry after becoming wet. This often causes the material to deteriorate and can become malodorous.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an improved combination of dog collar and bottle opener that improves upon the current art. Such a collar should use recycled material to reduce the environmental impact on the planet. Further, such a device should be operable as a bottle opener when worn without causing distress or pain to the wearer. Also, such a device should be free from sharp edges and crags, but also serves as a means for hanging an identification tag and also serve as a coupling link for a leash. Further, the collar should dry quickly, resist odors, and be soft and comfortable for dogs to wear.